Architects

Name:

Thomas Brown II

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

04/12/1806

Year of Birth :

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Date of Birth Before (Year):

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DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

23/08/1872

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Bio Notes :

Thomas Brown was the third son of the architect/builder Thomas Brown of Uphall (d.1833) and his first wife Janet Neil who had married in Edinburgh. Their first son, James (1800-45) became a Writer to the Signet. The second son, Robert, signed Thomas's death certificate in 1872 when Robert was living in Hampshire. There was another son, John, and a sister, Margaret. After the death of his first wife, Thomas Brown senior re-married Janet Ewing in January 1827 and had two further daughters, Wilhelmina Caroline Brown (1828-75) and Henrietta Margaret Brown who married John Deas in 1851.

Thomas was articled to his father and probably spent some time in the office of William Burn as an improver, some of his early houses being very much in Burn's style. In 1837 he was appointed architect to the Prison Board of Scotland and by 1838 had an office at 3 North Charlotte Street.

In 1814 the elder Brown was responsible for a 'new addition' (including a new dining room) at New Saughton or Cammo, Midlothian for James Watson, in 1827-30 he designed additions for Ormiston Hall, East Lothian for the 5th Earl of Hopetoun and in 1828-9 he altered and repaired Over Rankeillour House, Fife for General Sir Alexander Hope. Early in the 1830s either he or his son worked for William Adam at Blair Adam in Kinross-shire where he designed the Memorial (1833) and various gates and lodges, Temple Church, Midlothian was built in 1832 to the designs presumably of the elder Brown and the younger one altered Carrington Church, Midlothian in 1836. The latter is commemorated in Uphall churchyard.

In 1849 Thomas Brown II entered into partnership with James Maitland Wardrop. Wardrop was born in London on 16 March 1824, the son of James Wardrop MD, surgeon to George IV, and Margaret, widow of Captain Burn RN and daughter of George Dalrymple of North Berwick. He had been an apprentice to Brown prior to being taken into partnership. The practice of Brown & Wardrop was based at 19 St Andrew Square.

Wardrop gradually took over the design work relating to Brown's position as architect to the Prison Board of Scotland, his style and planning being closely based on that of David Bryce, in whose office he may have spent some time.

Brown's wife was Helen Neill whom he married in 1849; his daughter Janetta (Helen Janetta Julia Margaret) was born on 23 September 1853 and died on 4 February 1860 at 27 Royal Terrace. On 28 September 1853 Wardrop married Anna Maria, 5th daughter of James Dundas, 24th and last of Dundas, a financially unsuccessful inventor, at Dundas Castle. This widened the already extensive landed connections he had inherited from his mother. Much of his practice consisted of country house work; he also rebuilt a large number of country parish churches in a distinctive early decorated style.

Brown died on 23 August 1872 at 32 Royal Terrace, (his will was registered on 21 March 1873), Charles Reid becoming a partner shortly thereafter. He was survived by his wife Helen Neill who died on 18 September 1886. The chief assistant Charles Reid, who had been chief draughtsman in the firm and was a brother of A & W Reid of Elgin, was then taken into partnership, although the practice does not seem to have adopted the title of Wardrop & Reid until 1874.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
27 Royal Terrace Edinburgh Scotland	Private
Currie House Gorebridge Midlothian Scotland	Private/business
18 Windsor Street Edinburgh Scotland	Private
21 Royal Terrace Edinburgh Scotland	Private
32 Royal Terrace Edinburgh Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
3 North Charlotte Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	Before 1838	Before 1849
19 St Andrew Square Edinburgh Scotland	Business	Before 1849	c. 1872
Currie House Gorebridge Midlothian Scotland	Private/business	1867

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position
Thomas Brown I	200145	Before 1833	Before 1837	Apprentice
William Burn	200136	Before 1837	Before 1837	Improver
Brown & Wardrop	200149	In year 1849	1872 or 1873	Partner

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The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
Robert Reid Raeburn	100296	c. 1835	c. 1841	Apprentice
James Maitland Wardrop	200053	c. 1839	c. 1844	Apprentice
James Maitland Wardrop	200053	c. 1844	In year 1849	Assistant	Partner after 1849

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Temple Church amd session house	In year 1830	Temple	Midlothian	Scotland
St Nicholas Parish Church	In year 1832	Uphall	West Lothian	Scotland
Blair Adam	In year 1833		Kinross-shire	Scotland	Memorial (and various gates and lodges in 1830s)
Carrington Church	In year 1838	Carrington	Midlothian	Scotland	Tall Y-traceried windows inserted
Elgin Prison	In year 1839		Morayshire	Scotland
Haugh farmhouse and offices	Before 1839	Newliston	Fife/Edinburgh	Scotland
Sighthill Farmhouse	In year 1840		Argyll	Scotland
General Prison	In year 1841	Perth	Perthshire	Scotland	Reconstruction of French Prison as General Prison
Calton Prison	In year 1841		Edinburgh	Scotland	Debtor's block
Stonehaven Prison	In year 1841	Stonehaven	Kincardineshire	Scotland
Luffness House	In year 1841	Drem	East Lothian	Scotland	New west front
Town and County Buildings and prison	In year 1842	Nairn	Nairnshire	Scotland	Addition of large prison wing
Dingwall Prison, Sheriff Court and Police Station	In year 1842	Dingwall	Ross and Cromarty	Scotland	Courthouse. Prison situated at rear of 1864 building
Calton Prison	In year 1842		Edinburgh	Scotland	Alterations
Dornoch Prison and former drill hall	In year 1842	Dornoch	Sutherland	Scotland

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Colvin, H M	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	1995	New Haven and London: Yale University Press	3rd edition	Under Thomas Brown I
Scotlands People Website	Wills & Testaments				Edinburgh Sheriff Court Wills SC70/4/143; SC70/1/161; Brown's wife: Inventories SC70/1/253 and Wills SC70/4/221
Johnston, W T	Artists of Scotland	2003	Officina Publications CDROM

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Notes
Manuscript Collection	National Library of Scotland	100064	MS354 B & C
OPR (Register of births)	HM New Register House	200064	See RHP21327-21849 for plans of prisons.
Prison Commisssioners Minute Book	National Archives of Scotland (formerly SRO)	200521
Information from Steve Robb (from Scotland's People website)	Steve Robb	200842

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Archive References

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